


I Never Felt so Much Life

by dyllpickless



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, David "Dave" Katz Speaks Hebrew, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Jewish David "Dave" Katz, Klaus Hargreeves & David "Dave" Katz During Vietnam, M/M, Other, Time Travel, Vietnam War, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28330713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyllpickless/pseuds/dyllpickless
Summary: A snapshot of Klaus and Dave’s time in Vietnam together.This is for thesecret gift exchangeevent on tumblr, and is a gift for@bennybentacles!
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz
Comments: 12
Kudos: 34





	I Never Felt so Much Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bennybentacles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bennybentacles/gifts).



“Ow.”

“Don’t move.”

Klaus scoffed. “But Dave—!”

Dave pulled away to properly address Klaus, his hands stilling. “Klaus, if you want me to do this right, you need to stay still. I don’t want to accidentally hurt you.”

“You  _ are _ hurting me!”

“Hurt you any more than I have to,” Dave amended, pushing the needle back into Klaus’ skin with surprisingly steady hands. Dave had a feeling it was partially because of the weed they’d just smoked. Klaus hissed in pain, but otherwise remained quiet.

For a few minutes, all they could hear was the bugs in the surrounding rainforest and the soft chatter of the other squad members outside the flaps of the tent. That is, until Dave spoke up again, his voice soft yet concerned. “You need to be more careful, sweetheart.”

“I am careful,” Klaus huffed. “I just… got distracted.”

“How many have you taken today?”

“Hm?” Klaus looked at Dave, feigning innocence. 

“You know what I mean. How many pills have you taken today?” Dave carefully guided Klaus’ head to look at him.

Klaus just pressed his lips together, refusing to meet Dave’s eyes.

Dave sighed slightly. “You know me, I’m not going to make you stop, but—”

“But you’re worried about me,” Klaus finished for him, picking at the dirt under his nails.

“I am. And I don’t know how much I can keep covering for you.”

“What do you—?”

“One day or another, you’re going to get too high and you’re going to get injured and I won’t be there to help fix you up. And Tommy’s a good kid, but there’s no way Sarge wouldn’t catch a whiff of this if you went to him.”

Klaus huffed. “But Sarge—”

“Sarge turns a blind eye to a lot, but not to one of his soldiers being too high to walk in a straight line. You’ll get discharged, Klaus.” Dave tied off the final knot and used his pocket knife to cut the excess. “I can’t do this war without you again.”

Klaus turned to Dave, his puppy eyes wide. “I’m sorry,” he said softly.

Dave tilted his head and lifted a hand to frame Klaus’ jaw. “I know, it’s okay, love.”

“Kiss it better?” Klaus asked, lifting his arm and motioning to his newly closed gash.

Dave chuckled, “I can kiss  _ you _ after we do this.” He pulled out a canteen of alcohol, strong enough to curl the paint off a jeep.

Klaus’ eyes lit up. “We’re gonna get drunk together?!”

“No,” Dave said with a small laugh. “I have to disinfect your cut. Don’t want to get an infection out here.”

“Aw, and it’s my left arm too,” Klaus pouted.  _ “Definitely _ don’t want to cut that one off.” He made a lewd gesture and wiggled his eyebrows.

Dave rolled his eyes and licked his lower lip, trying not to laugh too much. “You’re impossible.”

“And yet here I am,” Klaus cooed.

Dave’s gaze softened and he smiled warmly. “Here you are,” Dave murmured. For a moment, his mind drifted back over the time they’d spent together: Klaus showing up in Dallas, begging him not to come to Vietnam. But Dave did anyway. He knew the rules of time travel, he’d read enough comics. Trying to change your own future would only cause trouble. Besides, he also knew that if joining the war meant someone like Klaus would end up loving him, it was worth it. “I love you, my impossible Klaus.”

Klaus scrunched up his nose happily and stuck his tongue out. “You’re so cheesy.” And then after a pause, “I love you too.” Klaus tilted his head forward for a kiss and Dave mirrored the action. They leaned in close, and—

_ “Psst. Hey!” _

A whispered voice made icy fear run down both Klaus and Dave’s spines. They quickly separated, trying to leave a normal, heterosexual amount of room between the two of them. 

When it was France’s head that popped into the tent, they both immediately relaxed. France knew what was going on, and the scrawny kid just smiled and talked about his two  _ tías _ who lived together back in Puerto Rico when he found out. 

“Hey, France,” Dave said with a slight smile. “Where’s Speck?”

Right as Dave asked the question, the lumbering frame of France’s counterpart poked his head into the tent before following France in. His soft face pulled into a slight frown when he saw the fresh stitches on Klaus’ arm, but he didn’t say anything. 

“Listen guys,” France pushed quickly. “I was, um, well that’s not important. What  _ is _ important is that I just heard Sarge say that we’re gonna have to bug out soon. We’re going up to meet a bunch-a Charlies before they get to the village just off the road so we can stop them before they do anything bad.”

Klaus slouched and a very tired look came over his face. More fighting, meaning more ghosts.  _ Great. _ He looked over at Dave, whose face had hardened to disguise what he was feeling. He always put on a brave face for France, but Klaus knew his stomach was tying itself into knots at that moment.

“Alright,” Dave said simply. “Let me finish Klaus up, and then we’ll get to packing. Thanks, France.”

France smiled. “Speck already gave some rations to that dog from the village, so you don’t have to worry about feeding him before we go.”

“Thank you.”

Speck shifted. “I’m gonna miss that pup. She was good.”

“She’s happy because of us,” France said. “She’s full. And the villagers will take good care of her when we go. Don’t worry about her.”

“Yeah,” Speck said softly.

“Me and Speck should probably go,” France said, his voice bright despite what was ahead. “We gotta go and pack up. I hope Sarge lets us keep these two person tents. It’s nice not having to hear Don snoring.”

“It’s nice not having to see Don period,” Dave added, and the others chuckled in response.

“You got me there,” France snorted.

They watched the pair leave the tent with lingering smiles. As soon as the flap stilled, Klaus turned back to Dave. “So, where were we?” 

“Here.” 

A sudden, searing pain burst over his stitched up gash, making Klaus cry out. “Ow! What the fuck?”

“I can’t let you get an infection, sweetheart,” Dave said softly, dipping his head down so his lips brushed against Klaus’. “I need you here.”

“Mm, who else would you have to cuddle with?” Klaus teased, not closing the final amount of distance between them.

“I think Speck would be a good cuddle buddy, but nothing can compare to my snuggle bug.”

Klaus squirmed happily at the petname, taking a moment to press his face into Dave’s neck to collect himself before inching closer and finally sealing the kiss. Dave’s fingers carded through Klaus’ hair, deepening the kiss for a moment, then pulling back. 

“We have to start packing,” Dave said sympathetically over Klaus’ whines. 

“Fine,” Klaus pouted.

“Don’t worry,  _ yekirì, _ we’ll be able to snuggle before you know it.”

That wasn’t exactly true, and Dave knew that. They were going to have to march over to the new location, set up camp, and fight a battle. Then, only if they were lucky, they’d be able to get some time together, and even then it would probably be too hot to do any actual snuggling. Neither spoke a word against it, though. They both just held onto that as they quietly started to pack up their things. 

* * *

Everything was sore, especially the gash on Klaus’ arm. Sweat was dripping into his eyes and he held on tighter to the straps of his pack, like that would protect him. He kept his gaze fixed on the ghost up ahead—who Klaus had named Spot—waiting for him to wave with his right hand, indicating there was something dangerous up ahead. 

Marches were torturous. Arguably worse than the actual battles. A whole squad of men marching dead silent through the rain forest, praying that they don’t encounter a trap or a landmine or get ambushed. It’s nearly impossible not to go insane.

The tension faded a bit after Klaus joined the squad. For reasons only Klaus knew, he had some sort of sixth sense that let him know when danger was ahead. So, after a few marches, Klaus was steadily moved up to the front of the line, upgraded from FNG to something more of a lucky charm. What they didn’t know was that Klaus was just listening to the ghosts up ahead. He was okay with that. As long as it kept the others safe.

* * *

By the time they were in a clearing large enough to set up camp, the pills Klaus had taken were starting to wear off. Klaus tried his best to hide his tremors and how clammy he was feeling, but he knew from Dave’s worried looks that he wasn’t masking it as well as he’d hoped. 

“Hey, you okay?” Dave brushed behind Klaus, whispering the question by his ear.

Klaus didn’t want to lie to Dave. He never did. But if he told the truth, then Dave would give him that look that always showed up whenever Dave knew Klaus was about to pop another pill. Somewhere between a kicked puppy and a mourner. It made Klaus’ stomach twist into knots, moreso than it already had.

“Yeah, yeah. Just tired.”

Dave knew Klaus was lying. Klaus knew Dave knew Klaus was lying. But neither mentioned it. Dave just chuckled and mentioned how it was good luck that Sarge had let them keep the two person tents, and they’d be able to sleep before either of them knew it.

Klaus just nodded, and as soon as Dave walked away to grab more materials from the truck, Klaus popped another pill.

* * *

“Daaaave,” Klaus cooed from his cot, reaching up at his boyfriend who was at the moment changing out of his mud-caked and bloody clothes. “Daveyyyyy.”

“Whaaaat?” Dave asked, a teasing smile playing on his tired face. He tossed his shirt over to his pile of clothes to wash later and looked down at Klaus playfully. Dave had tried to scrub all the mud and grease and gunpowder off it earlier, but there was still a streak by his ear. It was cute when Klaus didn’t think about where he’d gotten it—the firefight they were just in.

“You’re pretty.”

Dave snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“Nooo! You are! I pinky promise. You’re the prettiest most beautifulest person I’ve ever seen.”

Dave’s smile became more genuine, and he squatted down by Klaus’ face. “Thank you, sweetheart.” 

He started to stand, and Klaus made a rather pitiful sounding whine at the back of his throat. “Where are you going? We were gonna cuddle!”

“I need to get you some water, love,” Dave replied warmly, shaking their nearly empty canteens. “You took a lot of pills today, you need to get hydrated.”

Klaus pouted. “Hurry back.”

“Of course I will. You won’t even know I’m gone.”

“Okay.”

Silence wasn’t something Klaus necessarily enjoyed in the rainforest. Even in those few times when there weren’t any ghosts around, silence meant danger. Klaus looked around the tent darkly and hugged his sweat-covered arms around himself.

Dave was back sooner than Klaus had expected, and he was glad of it. The stress melted out of Klaus’ body at the sight of Dave’s smile. “Here.” Dave passed a canteen over. “Drink, pretend it’s ice cold.”

That made Klaus groan. What he’d give for a glass of ice cold water. Even better—ice cold,  _ clean _ water. He quickly knocked the canteen back before he could lose himself too far into the fantasy.

“Thank you,” Klaus gasped once he had drunk about half.

“Of course.” Dave screwed the caps onto both their canteens, then hung them by the entrance. “Do you need anything else?”

Wordlessly, Klaus reached up towards Dave again. This time, Dave couldn’t resist. He pushed his cot right up against Klaus’ and laid down. After checking that the tent flap was still closed, he pulled Klaus close and into a deep kiss. 

“Mm, I love you,” Klaus hummed happily.

“I love you too, pumpkin.”

It was too hot to cuddle close, the lack of air conditioning made sure of that, but they still needed some type of contact. Klaus reached out and grabbed Dave’s hand, squeezing it a few times before settling down and closing his eyes.

_ “Ani met alecha,” _ Klaus could hear him murmur before he reached out and carded his fingers a few times through Klaus’ dark hair.

In the dim light, it was easy for Klaus to lose himself in Dave’s presence as he drifted between sleep and wakefulness. In his half conscious state, he and Dave were in that nice little cabin in the woods they always talked about, cuddling in their bed, happy and safe. And as Klaus fell further and further away from consciousness, he resolved that one day, they were going to have that together, no matter what.

**Author's Note:**

> This was really fun to write! I'm hoping to get a few more oneshots up before I have to go back to college :) Hope y'all enjoyed this!


End file.
